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Best Pound-for-Pound Fighter of the Decade

by Fernando Redondo

There are many fighters this decade that can be named as the best pound-for-pound fighter -- the offensive machine Felix “Tito” Trinidad; the ageless and skillful Bernard “Executioner” Hopkins; the defensive master Ronald “Winky” Wright; or even the media king Oscar “Golden Boy” De La Hoya. However it can arguably only come down to two boxers -- Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

After evaluating both these boxers, Pacquiao is by far the superior boxer. Why? It comes down to how he can dismantle boxers, and how he can adapt to different boxing styles. Mayweather has not lost any fights and people might say just because of this he is the better fighter. However, this is not true. In that case Rocky Marciano is the best fighter of all time, and as we know this is not true.

TALE OF THE TAPE

Mayweather’s list is pretty wide and with good fighters. However, he accomplished this by only doing what he is amazing at -- he just danced around them and defeated them with speed and precise punches. Pacquiao is just as talented in his strengths and who he has defeated. Both these boxers are equal in fighting good fighters. But the best measure is head-to-head, so I will rate both these fighters in the last two fighters in their victory column -- De La Hoya and Hatton, since Mayweather and Pacquiao both faced and defeated these boxers.

Mayweather vs De La Hoya

“The Fight of the Century”, or in other words the biggest show in the ring, because anything with De La Hoya is a “Show” rather than a boxing event. Mayweather came with all his cockiness against a living legend and defeated De La Hoya in a 12th-round split decision. As one views the match one can truly see that this was more of a show because Mayweather could have finished the fight at different opportunities. However, for the sake of money Mayweather dragged it out.

Pacquiao vs De La Hoya

This was not the fight of the century for obvious reasons. This was De La Hoya’s last fight and Pacquiao was not known to any casual fans... but after this match they knew. Manny Pacquiao not only beat De La Hoya, he dismantled him. In his first fight as a welterweight Pacquiao took on a living legend. Everybody thought this could be a good match for De La Hoya; they were wrong. Pacquiao was shorter then De La Hoya, though it did not show throughout the match. Pac-Man destroyed Oscar from every single angle possible and did what few others have done to De La Hoya -- disfigure and humiliate. Pacquiao dominated De La Hoya so much throughout the fight that the latter called it quits before the ninth round began. Pacquiao not only ended De La Hoya’s career... he destroyed it by making him give up, something boxers don’t do. In the process he won the WBC Super Welterweight Title.

Mayweather vs Hatton

This was a good match all the way through the last round , which was round ten. Hatton won a few rounds and Mayweather won a few as well. In the 10th round, Hatton was on top of Mayweather hitting him left to right. However, Mayweather retreated to a corner and waited for the perfect opportunity. It came with Hatton about to throw a hook, but Mayweather with his speed countered with a left hook to Hatton’s jaw. After this knockdown Hatton was delirious and was knocked down again for the knockout as Mayweather retained his title.

Pacquiao vs Hatton

Where to start with this one. This was supposed to be the fight of 2009. It was nowhere close to it. Pacquiao dominated again from the beginning, knocking Hatton down twice in the first round. Hatton barely made it out of that first round. When the second round began, Hatton came hard and looked halfway through the round as though he might make a fight out of this. However, what he did not realize was that Pacquiao was just setting him up. In the last eight seconds of the round Pacquiao dodged a left hook by Hatton which left Hatton wide open. Pacquiao countered with one of the best knockouts in recent history. He connected a left hook to Hatton’s jaw that dropped him instantaneously -- as soon as he connected with the punch, Hatton was out. Hatton dropped like a rock, the back of his head hitting the canvas and his arms swinging over his head. No other fighter has done this to Hatton in his entire career. Pacquiao won the IBO and Ring Magazine Light Welterweight titles.

Pacquiao’s complete destruction of both these Hall Of Fame Boxers was just jaw-dropping. Mayweather beat them both, but he did not dominate either of those fighters with ease. With Pacquiao it was no contest -- they both look like sparring partners at the gym, who were there to be destroyed in advance of a bigger fight. This is not to say that Mayweather is a pushover; he is a headhunter when he really wants to do it, but he has not faced a true fighter that has forced him to adapt a different fighting style. That is what sets Pacquiao apart: his willingness to adapt. And with a great trainer like Freddie Roach, who is spectacular at what he does, Pacquiao makes it look easy.

Will there be a Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Manny Pacquiao fight in the upcoming year or two? It is all up to Mayweather, and if he is not scared to fight an actual fighter who is clearly better then him, and if it manages to occur soon while both is in his prime, it would definitely be the fight of the century.

Submitted 5/9/2009

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